Everything you need to know about running and life and any other random crap I find bouncing through my mind like a ping pong ball. And always be sure your shoes are happy.

Archive for the tag “Moggie”

This morning I worked out with Killer and then did three (very) slow miles in the heat, continuing my efforts to acclimate to heat. At least I finally found my shuffle so I could listen to some tunes while I gasped for air. Another notch in the got ‘er done column!

We celebrated the fourth last Saturday, had friends and family over and enjoyed tooling around the lake before the fireworks and then parking the pontoon near the display for a great view. The neighborhood association puts on a very good show and the kids loved it. I’m not sure what you call your husband’s cousin’s child (umptythird twice removed?) – at four years of age she was the highlight for the adults as she screamed after every explosion that “THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!!” This kind of attitude could someday ruin some poor guy’s honeymoon but I’m not going there. B’ster, on the other hand, being 2-1/2 years old, was very excited right up the first BOOMPOW when he immediately glued himself to his mother and attempted to return to the womb. Hands over his ears he stated quietly, “I don’t like fireworks.” Obviously he got nothing of his mother’s or his Moggie’s blood, thank you Little Baby Jesus in the straw, and instead, happily, seems to be exactly like his patient, quiet, and understated father and Poppa. My daughter and I are fully capable of being patient, quiet and understated any time we are under full anesthesia, so I do think we need some credit, however small it may be.

Murph and Chunk had a great time. Chunk was hounded mercilessly by three little girls and the B’ster which serves her completely right since she has been very full of herself lately, shoving all my things off my desk, walking repeatedly, slowly and regally across my keyboard causing some poor member’s name to be transposed to John Poihylkuyoiuaah – and won’t his momma be surprised that he is Hawaiian when she could have sworn he was born at the Memorial Hospital in Menomonie, WI to her (of Irish decent) and the hubs, Mr. Smith, whose grandparents were from the upper Cotswolds?

Murphmeister – abused as a pup, apparently – has an issue with men. He mostly hates them for the first five minutes he meets them, then after repeatedly barking at the decibel level of a sonic boom and occasionally doing a fake rush at the now terrified male he decides he loves them and slavishly follows them about. A while ago hubs thought it would be a good idea to quietly slip the petrified male visitor a ‘cookie’ (as they are called in our house) in order to make the dog like the guy. Now Murphy associates new males with barking wildly and cookies so he barks more, and longer, in an attempt for more cookies. His thought process is, apparently, “I barked until the guy peed himself, got a cookie. How far can I take this?” He was in heaven, barking and eating cookies. Fourth of July is now his favorite holiday. Fireworks? Not a problem. By that point he was in a stuffed tummy stupor asleep on my bed and if a drunk guy had tried to climb in the window…useless. As he was before when the drunk guy tried to climb in the window.

Today it’s a quiet one. Traitor is probably celebrating his sorry a$$ off in Brooklyn, Other Traitor is probably working HAHAHAHA because they don’t celebrate the 4th of July in Brazil (and I don’t care to hear either of you mention Carnival since I’ve already told him any beautiful Brazilian lady he might fall in love with is moving to America and their mom can come visit here.)

There’s some fireworks. Won’t that look nice walking down the aisle at St. Mary’s?

Google images has ruined many lives. Hold on a minute, I think I’m hyperventilating.

It took me a while to book tickets to Brazil for 12 months. I had to find an apartment too, and it was hard to get one that close, but I managed to get next door to him. Bet that will be a happy surprise when he finds out his momma is his neighbor! Makes me smile just to think of his joy.

Murphy and Chunkster enjoy my blog. They read it all the time, apparently. That surprised me until I remembered how well Chunk can work the keyboard. I guess she’s able to pull up my posts. Since they are so excited about the fourth of July and all the fun I thought I should draw a picture of the excitement around our house today. I know I’ve been remiss in making pictures lately so I took extra time with this one, I think it captures quite truthfully the extent of their enthusiasm and I hope you enjoy it.

Happy 4th of July!! Many (very sincere) thanks to all those who risk their own lives so I can sit at this desk and write a bunch of stuff that has no redeeming value.

The legs are less sore today, which is a happy surprise since they were kinda screaming at me yesterday, particularly on the stairs. Stairs are unavoidable in this 39 year old house which was built in 1973 after the owner’s non-stop binge on 96 episodes of the Brady Bunch. Red-eyed and numb he decided a tri-level house was the thing for him, with the main (middle) floor consisting of a kitchen with bright blue counters and plaid wallpaper, and a dining room with shimmering pale green wallpaper and a chandelier made of 3″x6″ squares of beveled glass hanging from bronze wires. Pretty damn awesome, but he forgot to include the bathroom. Accessing areas of relief require a trip up or down stairs and this is not negotiable. We did re-do the house (buh-bye, blue counter tops and disco fixture) but adding a bathroom on the main floor was not optional unless we wanted to stick it on the front of the house. Which would be rather a southern-type thing to do, but since we’ve already got the old washtub and the tractor with one wheel in the front yard and the couch and nonfunctional Coke machine on the porch we decided to pass. It seemed to me it would ruin the flow.

I did end up very successfully *oops* missing both the yoga and Pilates classes Monday (honestly, I was busy with work which provided the perfect excuse). This morning I will do three little slow miles – and by the way: It’s National Running Day! are you participating? – and then go see Killer who will undoubtedly have several new tortures awaiting me. Tiny little blond thing with such a pretty smile, it’s so disarming. Every time I think, I love Killer! Happy Day! I get to see her! and then I get there and realize once again I’ve deceived myself.

By the way, last year they busted a Bed & Breakfast Bondage house in a local bedroom community here – fine, upstanding community populated with many upper middle class citizens who were astounded such a thing could occur. If they could look into Killer’s garage they might not be so surprised.

Yesterday I did a bit of track work, which is a new thing for me and while it went OK I did worry that the high-pitched squeal of pain from my quads might set off the nearby donut shop’s alarm. The owner of the donut shop must go to bed every night Praizing Jayzus that he bought that frontage lot, which a year or so later saw a high school erected about 50 feet behind him and now a couple thousand or more hungry high schoolers and hundreds of exhausted teachers drive past his haven of caffeine and sugar every morning. When I drove out I thought longingly of his apple fritters which are reallllly good – and I’m an apple fritter connoisseur – but I kept moving, realizing that the calories left on the track would immediately reappear in my front seat if I stopped.

The best part of the day yesterday was getting the B’ster from daycare. He’s a blast. We stopped at the grocery. He sat in the cart pointing at all the fruit. APPLE! APPLE! APPLE! Sure, I think guavas and tomatoes look pretty much like apples, too. He had to hold the package of hamburger. Until we passed the Goldfish which were not on the grocery list but you can damn skippy bet that Moggie immediately put them on the list. Hamburger relegated to the back of the cart, he proudly held the Goldfish. Then he helped at the checkout, happily throwing everything he could reach onto the moving conveyor. The checker was a young man who handed B’ster one of the grocery sacks, “Here you go little Dude” and B smiled large.

At my house he found his two toy boxes and dislodged everything. He wore his fireman hat and I wore my racing car hat. We built a house of Duplo blox and he installed the Mommy-Daddy-B’str Duplo people on the roof. After that, apparently, there was a Natural Disaster and the house was destroyed. He found a book that has his mother’s name inscribed in the front and I read it to him twice while I remembered reading it to her a few decades ago. Next we went down to the dock where I sat and stuck my feet in the lake. Astounded, he smiled, sat down, pulled of his shoes and socks and dangled his feet in a lake for the first time. Traitor came over with more stuff to put in the attic. We made hamburgers & chicken burgers and ate on the deck. It was a sweet day.

Here’s a pic of B’ster and the story time, the Disco Dining Room and also the chicken burgers recipe which was really good.

Disco Dining Room

Copy cat recipe of Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burgers.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1lb ground chicken

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 lime, cut in half

4 slices pepper jack cheese

4 buns, toasted

For the guacamole:

1 avocado

garlic powder

salt & pepper

Instructions

Combine chicken, green onions, bell pepper, cilantro, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes and juice of half a lime in a large bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined, then form into 4 patties and spray each side generously with non-stick spray.

Heat a large grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Grill burgers for 3-4 minutes a side, or until cooked all the way through. Place a slice of cheese on top of each burger, then cover with a large pot lid, and allow to melt for about a minute. Remove burgers to a plate, tent with foil, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Place each burger on a toasted thin bun, then top with guacamole.

For the guacamole: Mash all ingredients together with a potato masher or fork.